Grey Delhi spruces up creative team

In an effort to strengthen its creative team, Grey Worldwide's Delhi office has appointed Sandipan Bhattacharyya, Manoj Deb – both ex-Grey hands – and Tarvinderjit Singh. While Bhattacharyya and Deb, who come in from Enterprise Nexus, join as associate creative directors, Singh comes on board as group head. Before his new assignment, Singh was with O&M.

Hiring people was the need of hour, explains Nandu Narasimhan, regional creative director, North, who felt that the Delhi branch was “seriously” short-staffed. “More people means more time to each job, better quality, and the chance to go home slightly earlier!”

Talking about the recruits, Narasimhan says, “Sandy and Manoj are not only talented, but have that rare ability to take a team along at 320 kph. Tarvinder is a bit of a wild kid, but he is very good. In fact, our entire team is pretty high on talent and laziness!”

Speed may thrill the duo, but for Deb and Bhattacharyya, coming to Grey is a sort of taking a U-turn. They had quit Grey in February 2004 to join Enterprise Nexus as their ex-boss Alok Agrawal had moved to Enterprise Nexus's Delhi head.

Improving the creative standards of the Delhi office is the top priority. And getting more talent in the agency is a step towards that direction. However, it was only last year when the agency began some serious introspection. In fact, just after joining Grey, Narasimhan had said that he was just going to put his head down and work. “And, that is precisely what I did,” claims Narasimhan.

“We started out last year, looking to improve our standards. And, we did pretty okay last year on Hyundai, SBI Cards, Samsung and Ranbaxy. Our reel is looking better, but more can be done on the quality front. This year, we are pushing in the same direction with some good work on Wrigley’s, Samsung, and some more that’s yet to be released.”

According to Narasimhan, the one reason that accounts for the branch's success is the its faithful adherence to a simple rule. “No big talk on raising the bar, adding value to our clients’ business, and all the usual dialogue that you get to hear. We guys follow just one basic, stripped-down rule: Do good work and have a blast doing it. My creative directors and I basically try and keep the place clean, and provide a nice space for talent to bloom.”

The confidence in Grey's Delhi office is unmistakable. Narasimhan credits Prathap Suthan, national creative director, Grey, for ensuring it. “Pat is pretty focused on where he wants us to go, in terms of quality. And knowing him, he will stand on people’s heads till his stated objective is reached.” © 2005 agencyfaqs!